Joel Embiid hints at potential 76ers exit, as NBA MVP admits that he wants ‘to see what it feels like to win that first one’ amid James Harden’s return to Philly looking unlikely

Joel Embiid might be close to being done trusting the process in Philadelphia, if the 76ers fail to play for a championship in the near future.

Embiid was named NBA Most Valuable Player for the 2022-23 season and enters his eighth season with the franchise contemplating his next move.

‘I just want to win a championship. Whatever it takes,’ Embiid said in an interview with Maverick Carter that took place Thursday at the UNINTERRUPTED Sports Film Festival. ‘I don’t know where that’s gonna be, whether it’s in Philly or anywhere else, I just want to have a chance to accomplish that. 

‘I want to see what it feels like to win that first one and then you can think about the next one. It’s not easy, but it takes more than one or two, three guys. You got to have good people around you and myself every single day, I work hard to be at that level so I can make it happen. So, every single day, I’m working towards that.’

Embiid said he ‘loves the challenge’ of hearing other players mentioned for MVP and proving himself.

Joel Embiid, 29, wants ‘to see what it feels like to win that first one’ in Philadelphia or elsewhere

‘I understand the business, it’s fun at the end of the day I think of it like this: I’m extremely blessed,’ Embiid said.

Embiid was in Los Angeles to launch his own new film studio, but appears to have no control over who’ll be his co-star next season.

He has been paired with Ben Simmons and James Harden as the 76ers attempt to break through in the Eastern Conference. 

Simmons was traded for Harden, who returned last season for less than a maximum contract only to request a trade entering the 2023-24 season. 

Harden reportedly informed the 76ers he wants to play for the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Embiid and James Harden led the 76ers to the Eastern Conference semifinals last season

Philadelphia’s starting center has a $213million contract that runs until the 2025-26 season

Embiid said last month he was hopeful Harden would still change his mind.

Embiid signed a four-year, $213million contract extension in 2021 that runs through 2026-27 and averages more than $52M per season.

The 76ers haven’t reached the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001, when Alan Iverson led the franchise to an iconic run, losing in the NBA Finals to Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers. 

That being said, Philadelphia’s had plenty of opportunities to break its 22-year long misfortune with Game 7 semifinals appearances in 2012, 2019, 2021 and last season when they ultimately lost to the Boston Celtics. 

The Sixers have won three NBA titles since the franchise’s foundation in 1946. Firstly based in Syracuse, the franchise won a championship during its time in upstate New York (1955) before winning again in 1967 and 1983 following its move to Philly in 1963.  

This upcoming season will counts as the 40th year since a Sixers player’s lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy.